News
The 3.5 GHz spectrum auction, which was initially set to take place in 2020, has faced numerous setbacks over the last two years
The Polish regulator has now announced that it now intends to launch Poland’s first 5G spectrum auction next year.
Like so many 5G spectrum auctions around the world, Poland’s has faced a tumultuous journey in reaching actualisation. Initially planned to take place in 2020, the auction was initially delayed by the onset of the coronavirus, but further delays have been mostly due to amendments being made to the country’s Electronic Communication Law and the Act on the National Cybersecurity System (KSC).
Earlier this summer, the auction was being planned to take place in August, but further regulatory delays saw this deadline also pass by.
The auction, when it does finally come to pass, will primarily make spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band available for the operators, with the regulator suggesting that 320 MHz of spectrum will be available for purchase.
Spectrum in the 700 MHz band will also be sold once digital terrestrial television providers migrate their services to other spectrum bands.
Currently, Polish telcos have seemingly had little appetite for mmWave spectrum (26–28 GHz band), though last month Jacek Oko, chairman of Polish regulator UKE, said that plans to use 26-28 GHz bands for 5G will be prepared next year.
With no dedicated 5G spectrum available to them, Poland’s operators have been forced to launch 5G services reliant solely on spectrum in the 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands, currently used by 4G. As a result, Poland’s 5G relies on dynamic spectrum sharing with 4G, meaning speeds are currently limited to around 300 Mbps, far below the blistering speeds typically associated with 5G.
In fact, this is often even slower than LTE-A, meaning customers with a 5G-capable phone can often benefit from simply turning off 5G on their smartphone entirely.
That is not to say, however, that the operators are not pushing ahead with the technology to the best of their ability. Last month, T-Mobile Poland announced that it was trialling standalone (SA) 5G (i.e., 5G using dedicated spectrum not also in use for 4G), albeit still using spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band.
According to Petri Pehkonen, Director of Technology and Innovation at T-Mobile Poland, these tests are primarily to explore the interoperability of the current commercial 5G solutions and devices with SA 5G.
“Currently, there are no commercially available 5G SA solutions on the market, so we want to use all possible opportunities to conduct tests with the participation of various suppliers. The knowledge gained in this way will allow us to better define our expectations towards suppliers and prepare our network for the implementation of 5G SA,” he explained.
Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here
Also in the news:
Viettel joins rivals in launching mobile money services
Solar-powered broadband balloons to deliver connectivity to Africa
LTE and 5G Private Mobile Networks to unlock the era of connected industries
